Easily customized plaque honors the armed forces
By Steven Westfall
Font by Sylvia Mendiola
Support the men and women in uniform with this plaque honoring your hometown heroes. You can stack cut several soldier portraits at one time, and then personalize each plaque with the individual’s name, rank, and dates of service.
When mounted in a frame with a photograph, the plaque makes a thoughtful welcome home gift for someone who served overseas, or can be used to honor a veteran from prior conflicts. The project can also be used as a memorial for our fallen soldiers.
After cutting the portrait, make a copy of the letters you need to spell out the personalization. Use a square and a mechanical pencil to draw in light guidelines to help position the letters. If you prefer, you can choose a font and type out the text on a computer to ensure proper spacing. Sylvia Mendiola of Hondo, TX, (www.kerfdesigns.com) designed the font presented here. The True Type font is available for download at www.scrollsawer.com, which makes personalizing your plaque quick and easy.
After you cut the letters, sand away any pencil marks with 220-grit sandpaper.
You can adjust the photo opening to accommodate the picture you have. I used a 5″ by 7″ opening and mounted the entire project in an 11″ by 17″ frame. After all cuts are complete, sand the front and back of the stock to remove any fuzzies and square the photo opening. Insert your photo, add a black backing board, and put the entire portrait in a frame.
Materials:
• 1/8″ x 11″ x 17″ Baltic birch plywood
• Black felt, foam core, or 1/8″-thick Baltic birch painted black (backing board)
• Frame of choice
• Sandpaper, 220-grit
Tools:
• #1 spiral blade or blade of choice
• Drill with 1/16″-dia. drill bit
